Electric safety water light



Dec. 15, 1942. ERKlNs 2,305,490 I Y ELECTRIC SAFETY WATER LIGHT FiledApril 26, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L YH H l Z53 l NVE NTO R Laws 5. PAW/vsETTORNEY Dec.

ELECTRIC SAFE 1.. E. PERKINS TY WATER LIG T I 2 Sheets eet 2 mum! mmuumm"MINI!"3 li'lh l l I H H INVENTOR I [0% E e/0N5.

B A ORNEY Patented Dec. 15, 1942 UNITED STATE s PATENT OFFICE,

ELECTRIC SAFETY WATER LIGHT Louis E. Perkins, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignorto Perkins Marine Lamp & Hardware Corp., New York, N. Y., a corporationof New York Application April 26, 1939, Serial No. 270,183 Claims. (Cl.98.3)

vide a water light of the character described which shall be soconstructed that an electric light will be caused to be automaticallyrendered efiective whenever the device is disposed in a predeterminedangular position with respect to the horizontal and which willautomatically be rendered ineffective when the device is disposed in anangular range which falls outside of such predetermined angular positionsuch as, for example, when stored.

Another object of my invention is to provide a water light of thecharacter described which shall be constructed so as to withstand'theforce of the impact caused when the device is thrown into the Water fromrelatively great heights.

Still another object of my invention is to provide in combination with awater light construction of the character described novel means forsupporting the same when not in active use.

A further object of my invention is to provide a water lightconstruction of the character described which shall comprise relativelyfew and simple parts, which shall be easy to assemble,

which shall be rugged in construction so as to withstand strenuous wear,and which at the same time shall operate with a high degree ofefficiency.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in parthereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction;combinations of elements,

and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the constructionhereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will beindicated in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the variouspossible embodiments of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a water light constructed in accordancewith my invention and illustrating the same in effiective use;

Fig; 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional View of my improved waterlight;

Fig. 3' is a bottom plan view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional View taken substantially on the line 44 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 2 but ofreduced size and illustrating the same in stored. inactive use;

Fig. 6 is an elevational View of my device illustrating the effectiveangular range thereof;

Fig. 7. is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on theline 1-1 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is. an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on theline 88 of Fig. 5 and illustrating the manner of removing the bottomcover of the water light in cooperation with the support; and I I Figs.9 and 10 are'enlarged elevational views of the parts of thesupporting'device illustrated in Fig. 5-.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown a water light I0constructed in accordance with my invention and so designed that whenthrown overboard for safety purposes while attached to a life preserver;it will float in the water and will at the same time tend to assume anupright position. The mechanism of my water light It is further designedso that an electric light will automatically be caused to be lightedwhen the water light I0 assumes an upright angular position with respectto the horizontal and which light will automatically be renderedineffective when the water light is turned upside down to be stored.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings there is disclosed an enlarged verticalsectional view of the water light I9 constructed in accordance with myinvention and comprising a tubular casing or shell I! constructed of anysuitable metallic material which will not be corroded or otherwiseaffected by salt water, such as for example, copper. The

bottom of the casing I I is provided with a closure cap l2 which'may bethreadedly attached thereto as shown by means of an annular bushing I4attached to the casing. A packing member [3 is provided between the capI2 and the annular threaded bushing member I4 'to' render the interiorof the said casing II waterproof. The top of the casing I I is providedwith a cap member I5 which is permanently attached to the casing II inany suitable manner such as by interlocking the adjacent edges thereofas shown. Mounted within the cap member I5 is a bushing I6 having at itsupper end an internally threaded opening IT. The bushing I6 is alsoprovided at its lower end with an internally threaded opening I8. Intothis threaded opening l8 there is received a switch housing member I9comprising an annular wall 20 externally threaded at, the upper endthereof so as to mesh with the threads of the bushing opening I8 toretain the member I9 in a position substantially centrally disposed withrespect to the casing wall II. The housing member i9 is provided with anopening 2| in the top wall thereof, in axial alignment with the bushingopening IT. The bottom end of the housing member 2i) is closed with athreaded plug 22 having an opening 23 therethrough, one end of saidopening communicating with the interior of the. casing II and the otherend of said opening communicating with a hollow chamber 25 within themember I9. Into this chamber 25 there is placed a mercury switch 26. Oneend of the mercury switch is connected to a. lamp socket 29 by means ofthe conductor member 2'! while the other end of the mercury switch isconnected to a source of current supply B by means of the conductor wire28 passing through the opening 23. The circuit from the source of supplyB to the lamp socket 29 is completed by the conductor wire 30 connectedat one end thereof to the current source B passing through the opening23 in the member I9 and then passing outwardly through the housingopening 2| to be connected to the socket 29 as shown. Into the socket 29there is adapted to be received a lamp 3| of usual construction.

The mercury switch 26 is so designed that when it is in the uprightvertical position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the circuitfrom the lamp 3| to the source of current supply B will be completedthrough the mercury switch 26 and the'lamp will be in effective lightedcondition. The mercury switch is further designed so that the lamp 3|will remain in such lighted condition even when the water light Iassumes a substantially horizontal position such as shown in Fig. 6 ofthe drawings; In other words, the lamp 3| will remain lighted when thewater light is rotated, while in'upright position, from a horizontalposition through an arc of approximately 180. The mercury switch is sodesigned that when the water'light I 0 assumes a full horizontalposition or any angular position through an arc of 180 from thehorizontal when the lamp is inverted from its position shown in Fig. 2,the circuit between the source of supply B and the lamp 3| will beautomatically broken by the mercury switch to render the lightineffective. It is in such ineffective position that the water light Iii is stored for inactive use as shown in Fig. of the drawings.

The source of current supply may comprise a battery B which is fixedlymounted to the cap I2 by any suitable means such as a strap 40transversely disposed across the top surface of the battery and providedwith openings which receive therethrough a pair of long screws 4|, thelower ends 4la thereof being threadedly received in the cap I2 while theupper ends 40b thereof are threaded to receive the nuts 42 to thus holdthe battery permanently attached to the cap I2. It is thus seen thatwhen it is desired, for any reason, to remove or replace the battery B,it is a In order to insure that the mercury switch 26 will always remainstationary and in proper position with respect to the water light,suitable protective packing material 43 such as, for ex ample, cotton isplaced within the chamber 25 of the member I9 completely surrounding themercury switch 26 and spacing the same from the wall 23 to protect itagainst shock or displacement.

The lamp 3I is protectively shielded by a glass 5 refracting globe 44which is threadedly received in the threaded opening I! of the bushing I6. Th refracting globe 44 is provided with an outwardly projectingflange 45 adjacent the bottom opening thereof which is designed to bereceived within the opening of the cap member I5. Ina terposed betweenthe flange and the bushing I6 is a suitablepacking member 45 designed torender the device waterproof." .A cage type of guard 41 of anysuitable'construction may be attached to the cap I5 to protect therefracting globe 44 and lamp 3|.

It is well known that safety Water light devices of the characterdescribed must be buoyant and light in weight. These water light devicesare generally stored on the decks of ships which are often spaced sixtyor more feet from the Water. It is therefore seen that when the waterlight is thrown overboard with a life preserver, the force of impactwhen the water light strikes the water will be very great on the wallsofthe hollow casing. Heretofore when such water lights have been thrownoverboard, it has been found that the walls of the casings have beencrushed with resulting damage to the buoyancy of the water light and theinterior mechanism thereof. To obviate this disadvantage, I haveprovided means for reinforcing the casing wall II while at the same timemaintaining the necessary buoyancy of the casing so that the same willfloat in the water. To accomplish this, I provide a spirally wound wirewhich is of such size that it will fit within the hollow of the easing II and resiliently press outwardly and in this manner reinforce thecasing wall. 'If desired, the spiral wire member 50 may be fixedlyattached to the inner surface of the casing wall II by any suitablemeans such as soldering or welding.

An eyelet member 48 is fixedly attached to the outer wall'of the casingI I for the purpose of interconnecting the water light with the lifepreserver L by any suitable means such as a length of cable 49 asclearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawmgs. I

In Figs. 5 and 7'to 10 I have shown novelmeans for supporting the waterlight I0 while in inactive use, the said means comprising a pair of flatbars 5| and 52 made of any suitable: rigid material. The bars 5| and 52are designed to be disposed in parallel relationship on opposite sidesof the deck railings 53 and suitably interconnected by means of thebolts 54 passing through aligned apertures 55 and 56 in the bars 52 and5I respectively, and maintained in position by the nuts 51. It is thusseen that the bars 5I and 52 forming the support may be attached at anypoint along the railing without in any way marring the said railing.

The bar 52 is provided with a pair of substantially U-shaped springclamp members 58 and 59 which are designed to frictionally receive andhold therein the water light I0 as shown in Fig. 5. It is also noted inFig. 5 that the water light I0 is in an inverted position, opposite tothat shown in Fig. 2 and therefore, as previously described, the mercuryswitch 26 will cause a break in the circuit between the battery 3 andthe lamp 3| so that the lamp 3| of the water light I0 will beineffective A cup member 60 may also be attached to the bar 52 by anysuitable attaching means and disposed beneath the water light ID tocatch the drippings of water when the said water light is hung to dry.The cup member 60 may also be provided with apertures 6| in the bottomWall thereof to permit the accumulated water to drain out.

To facilitate the removal of the cap member I2 from the casing II forthe purpose of renewing the battery or for any other desired reason, Ihave provided a pair of lugs 62 and 63 on the outer surface of the capmember and spaced from each other as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.Designed to fit in the space between the lugs 62 and B3 is a projectinglug 64 fixed to the bar 52 of the support. When it is desired to unscrewthe cap I2, it is merely necessary to grasp the water light l0 and placethe cap l2 in such position against the bar 52 so that the lugs 62 and63 will straddle opposite sides of the lug 64 as clearly shown in Fig. 8of the drawings. When in such position, if the water light is axiallyrotated, the cap l2 will be unthreaded from the casing II. It is seenfrom the above construction that the cap I2 may be readily removed attimes when certain tools such as screw drivers and wrenches are notavailable.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved, and which is welladapted to .meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth,it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. In a device of the character described, a

tubular casing, a top closure member attached to said casing andprovided with a tubular open portion at the upper end thereof, a bushingmember mounted in said top closure, said bushing having a throughaperture communicating with the interior of said tubular casing, aportion adjacent the bottom of said bushing aperture being threaded, aswitch housing attached to said last named bottom threaded portion, aportion adjacent the top of said bushing aperture being threaded, arefracting globe attached to said last named top threaded portion, awaterproof packing disposed within said top closure member andinterposed between said globe and said bushing, an electric lamp, asupport for said lamp, said support projecting from said switch housingand freely extending upwardly through the aperture in said bushingmember whereby said lamp is disposed within said globe, a source ofelectric energy contained in said casing below said bushing member, anda cover detachably secured to said casing below said bushing member, theopening in said casing closed by said cover being so dimensioned anddisposed that said switch housing may be detached and said switchhousing and source of electric energy removed therethrough. I

2. In a device of the character described, a casing, a partitionpermanently disposed within said casing adjacent the top thereof, saidpartition having a through aperture, a portion adjacent the bottom ofsaid partition aperture being threaded, a switch housing attached tosaid bottom threaded portion, a portion adjacent the top of saidpartition aperture being threaded, a refracting globe attached to saidtop threaded portion, an electric lamp, a support for said lamp, saidsupport projecting from said switch hous ing and freely extendingupwardly through said partition aperture whereby said lamp is disposedwithin said globe, a source of electric energy contained in said casingbelow said partition,

and a cover detachably secured to said casing ,below said partition, theopening in said casing closed by said cover being so dimensioned anddisposed that said switch housing may be detached and said switchhousingand source of electric energy removed therethrough.

3. In a device of the character described, a casing, a partitionpermanently disposed within said casing adjacent the top thereof, saidpartition having a through aperture, a portion adjacent the bottom ofsaid partition aperture being threaded, a switch housing attached tosaid bottom threaded portion, a portion adjacent the top of saidpartition aperture being threaded, a refracting globe attached to saidtop threaded portion, an electric lamp, a support for said lamp, saidsupport projecting from said switch housing and freely extendingupwardly through said partition aperture whereby said lamp is disposedwithin said globe, a source of electric energy contained in said casingbelow said partition, a cover and means to detachably secure said sourceof electric energy to said cover, said cover being larger than saidsource of electric energy whereby said source of electric energy will beremoved from the device when said cover is detached, the opening in saidcasing closed by said cover being so dimensioned and disposed that saidswitch housing may be detached and removed therethrough.

4. In a device of the character described, a casing, a partitionpermanently disposed within said tubular casing adjacent the topthereof, said partition having a through aperture, a portion adjacentthe bottom of said partition aperture being threaded, a switch housingattached to said bottom threaded portion, a portion adjacent the top ofsaidpartition aperture being threaded, a, refracting globe attached tosaid top threaded portion, an electric lamp, a support for said lamp,said support projecting from said switch housing and freely extendingupwardly through said partition aperture whereby said lamp is disposedwithin said globe, a source of electric energy contained in said casingbelow said partition, the bottom end of said casing being open and acover detachably secured to said casing for closing said bottom end,said source of electric energy being detachably secured to said cover.

5. The-combination of a safety water light adapted to be inactivelymaintained aboard ship for long periods of time, said water lightincluding a buoyant casing, a battery, means to mount said batteryadjacent the bottom end of said casing, said bottom end having anopening of such a size and shape as to permit withdrawal of said batterytherethrough, and a removable closure member for said bottom end; and asupport for said water light, said support comprisingmeans to detachablyhold said water light and means permanently connected to said holdingmeans for removing said bottom closure, said bottom closure and saidremoving means being shaped for cooperation whereby upon removal of saidlight from said support, engagement of said bottom closure member withsaid closure member removing means and rotation of said casing, saidbottom closure member will be disengaged from said casing to permitremoval of said battery.

LOUIS E. PERKINS.

